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Smuggler
"Smuggling? I don’t know what you’re talking about!" Basic (Core) Most of the sea and road trade of the Old World is subject to duties and taxes. Imperial tax collectors, local excisemen, petty lords, and anyone with enough muscle can place a duty on the movement of goods. Legal taxes are bad enough, but many pirates and Outlaw Chiefs also demand a cut to allow safe passage. In large ports like Marienburg, nearly everything moving in or out is taxed in some way. Given this state of affairs, the Smugglers’ trade continues to thrive. While smuggling is, of course, illegal, most folks in the Empire don’t think much of cutting a few corners. In their minds, the taxmen and bureaucrats are the real thieves. Main Profile Secondary Profile Skills: Drive, Evaluate, Gossip or Secret Language (Thieves’ Tongue), Haggle, Perception, Row, Search, Silent Move, Speak Language (Breton or Kislevian) or Secret Signs (Thief ), Swim Talents: Dealmaker or Streetwise Trappings: Light Armour (Leather Jack), 2 Torches, Draft Horse and Cart or Rowing Boat Career Entries Bailiff, Boatman, Bone Picker, Camp Follower, Coachman, Engineer, Ferryman, Innkeeper, Marine, Miner, Seaman, Shieldbreaker Career Exits Boatman, Charlatan, Ex-Convict, Fence, Ferryman, Seaman, Shieldbreaker, Thief Affiliations Astute smugglers collect all manner of contacts, both shady and aboveboard. Corrupt excisemen can be bribed to look the other way, forgers provide official-looking customs papers, a fence can help move goods that are too hot to sit on, and boatmen, stevedores and coachmen can all help move merchandise surreptitiously, or can ensure that a crate or two of the goods they are shipping are lost in transit, finding their way into the smuggler’s hands. Some merchants are happy to deal with smugglers as long as the profit margin is high and there is little risk of getting caught. Crime lords often run smuggling syndicates, and deal severely with those who run illicit operations without their permission. A Smuggler’s Reputation Smugglers are viewed in many parts of the Old World as champions of the oppressed. By resisting government interference in the free flow of goods, they strike a blow against tyranny – or so a smuggler might say. Smuggling is dangerous and illegal, and only the most shrewd practitioners have long careers. Smugglers can expect to spend part of their lives incarcerated for their crimes, if not exiled for the more incorrigible cases. Betrayal is a constant threat to a smuggler, as smugglers’ business partners tend to get greedy from time to time, seeking to keep the whole pie for themselves. A good smuggler doesn’t reveal how much he makes on the sale of “imported goods” lest one of the many sets of hands that must handle such cargo decide to keep a larger share for themselves. Many smugglers, however, are under no delusions of heroism or championing any cause other than their own. There is a powerful reason smugglers assume the many risks their trade poses – there is always ample gold to be made for those ambitious and brazen enough to smuggle goods.